New C.B. 1 secretary chosen

Battery Park City resident and C.B l member Anthony Notaro, who chairs the board’s B.P.C. committee and co-chairs its planning and community infrastructure committee, was elected the board’s new secretary on Tues., Oct. 25. He will replace Noel Jefferson, who received a round of applause at the Oct. 25 full-board meeting.

Notaro, a member of C.B. 1 since 2000 and one of the founders of the B.P.C. Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.), ran against Marc Ameruso, the board’s assistant secretary and a member of the board’s quality of life, waterfront, Tribeca and other committees. During brief speeches the two candidates made prior to the vote at the full-board meeting, Notaro and Ameruso went head to head, making verbal jabs at each other.

Notaro criticized Ameruso for misspellings in the board’s recent minutes (which Ameruso is responsible for), counting thirteen typos or misstatements in the document — including a misspelling of committee members’ names, including Ameruso’s.

The assistant secretary then spoke, attacking Notaro for his opportunistic desire to use the secretary position as a “stepping stone.”

“There’s no heart in what Anthony does,” said Ameruso, referring to his running mate as “someone who wants to have a high profile for a future time.”

Out of the 40 C.B. 1 members who participated in the election. Notaro won by a landslide of 32 votes over Ameruso, who won only six votes.